With more than two million page views and more than 4,500 items, this blog provides news and commentary on public policy, business and economic issues related to the $3 billion California stem cell agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine(CIRM). David Jensen, a retired California newsman, has published this blog since January 2005. His email address is djensen@californiastemcellreport.com.

“With the passing of former first lady Nancy Reagan the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has lost a good friend and a champion of stem cell research. Mrs. Reagan was an advocate for stem cell research for many years and her voice was an important one in helping ensure the passage of Proposition 71. Her call to protect the ability of scientists to ‘pursue medical miracle possibilities’ echoed the feelings of millions of Americans looking to stem cell research for help in battling deadly diseases. We, and patients everywhere, were fortunate to have such a great champion for the work that we do.”

Nancy Reagan’s backing of hESC research began in the spring of 2004 with an unsuccessful effort to convince former President Bush to rescind his restrictions on federal funding of hESC research.

An Associated Press story said at the time,

"'It's hard to overstate or overestimate the power of her impassioned plea for the Bush administration to reform its stem cell policy,' said Daniel Perry, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research. "She's given permission for very conservative, anti-abortion Republicans to disagree with Bush. It's a courageous stance against a president of her own party."

About Me

The California Stem Cell Report is the only nongovernmental website devoted solely to the $3 billion California stem cell agency. The report is published by David Jensen, who worked for 22 years for The Sacramento Bee in a variety of editing positions, including executive business editor and special projects editor. He was the primary editor on the 1992 Pulitzer Prize-winning series, "The Monkey Wars" by Deborah Blum, which dealt with opposition to research on primates. Jensen served as a press aide in the 1974 campaign and first administration of Gov. Jerry Brown. (Time served: two years and one week.) He writes from his sailboat on the west coast of Mexico with occasional visits to land. Jensen began writing about the stem cell agency in 2005, noting that it is an unprecedented effort that uniquely combines big science, big business, big academia, big politics, religion, ethics and morality as well as life and death. The California Stem Cell Report has been identified as one of the best stem cell sites on the Internet. Its readership includes the media (both mainstream and science), a wide range of academic/research institutions globally, the NIH and California policy makers.